January 7th, 2011 by Naureen

In a video released (Arabic) earlier this week by opposition leader Mohamed ElBaradei, he blamed the Alexandria church bombing on “an education and religious atmosphere that fosters hatred.” He called for the creation of an environment where “everyone sees himself as Egyptian without consideration to his religious beliefs,” and have equal opportunities and freedom to establish places of worship.

In The New York Times, Michael Slackman writes about the growing awareness of religious strife in Egypt following the bombing and the likelihood that Hosni Mubarak will seek a sixth term, instead of passing the reins of power to his son in order to maintain the status quo. However, many commentators argue that the status quo of corruption, vote rigging, and discriminatory laws is the nation’s greatest problem. Gamal Assad, a Coptic Christian and member of Parliament, stated “This sectarian atmosphere is driving young people to retreat and lock themselves within the framework of the church. There is no room for political participation, which makes them susceptible to the conservative religious discourse. If there were real elections, if there was real representation, if there was any real participation by the people, then the political decisions could be more appropriate and address all these problems.”

Posted in Egypt, Elections, Sectarianism |